Wednesday, 30 September 2009

The Sun

Logo courtesy http://goalpost.wordpress.com

The Sun is a tabloid newspaper here in the UK with the highest readership, put at over 3 million copies sold each day. It is (in)famous for page three girls (who show off their assets). I usually glance at the paper when I'm buying my daily rag, the Press and Journal. I have very little time for The Sun, as it contains very little news (IMHO). I'll leave it at that.

Political Britain was all afluster today when The Sun announced it was no longer backing the Labour party (who have been in government since 1997), and instead switched its allegiance to the Conservatives. Only in Scotland did the Sun shift from Labour to nobody else. That's a piece of non-news if ever I heard one. The Sun, as I stated above, does not carry news (of note), and its editorial stance looks as if it is written on a sheet of lavatory paper. Yet it has delusions of grandeur, saying it backs winners in general elections.

This shift in political allegiance is very nice for the Conservative Party, as much as it was not nice for them in 1997, when the Sun started backing Tony Blair's Labour Party. It does show that The Sun has not got an opinion of its own, it does not stand for anything. The paper's editor has said that it backs the party that best appears to serve the interests of its readers.

Some people think that the Sun is for those who cannot be bothered to engage their brain. That's not true. You have to think very hard to read the Sun. Because you DO have to think for yourself - is what the Sun thinks is good for you really good for you?